


Experiment 001

by InterNutter



Series: When We Were New [1]
Category: Steam Powered Giraffe
Genre: Fluff, Gen, WAFF, baby robots
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-01
Updated: 2014-04-01
Packaged: 2018-01-17 19:28:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1399696
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InterNutter/pseuds/InterNutter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What's it like for a new life made of metal? What's it like to learn and remember everything from the first day?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Experiment 001

  
Disclaimer: Steam Powered Giraffe and all characters from the lore belong to the Bennetts. I just do weird things with words.

Experiment 001

InterNutter

  Click.  
  Light! Movement! Shapes!  
  So much new!  
  Big shape in front. Over. Making shapes. Making noise.  
  What was it? What *was* it?  
  "Excellent," said the big thing. It did something with a rectangle.  
  Wait. How did it know what a rectangle was?  
  Other words were coming in. Face. Hands. Creator. Clipboard.  
  Creator shone a light in its eyes. Moved it around.  
  "Good. Good." One end of the light went into Creator's mouth as Creator did more things with the clipboard. "Subject tracks light source." The light went off and went down amongst a whole bunch of other tools. Screwdrivers. Spanners. Hammers. Straight-edges. Pencils. Bits and pieces of things. Gears. Movements. And there was a big, shiny blue thing right nearby with a... yes! A cable. That lead to where it couldn't see.  
  "Let's see if you can recognise things," said Creator. He... yes. He tapped a cage. "What is this in here?"  
  Identify animal.  
  "Ra... bit." Oh! That was fun to say! "Rabbit." This was good! "Rabbit!" It felt... happy. Yes. Happy word. "Rabbit! Rabbit, rabbit, rabbit, rabbit."  
  "Good. Good!" Creator tapped on the desk. "What's this?"  
  "RABBIT!"  
  Creator did not look the same. Not showing teeth, any more. "Desk. This is *desk*."  
  "Rabbit," it said. Didn't Creator know that the word was fun? "Rabbit?"  
  A colourful sphere. Ball. Held in Creator's... hand. Yes. "Identify."  
  "Rabbit."  
  The ball made a funny noise when Creator threw it away. Squeak. Yes. Squeak was fun, but not nearly as fun as 'Rabbit'.  
  A round shiny thing. "Gear. Wheel."  
  "Rabbit."  
  "No, no, no, no, no! This is paper," a rectangle of white. "This is book." A big box of uneven sides. "This is screwdriver." A long, thin thing with a handle. "This is creator." An agitated motion at his chest. "*Repeat*."  
  "Rabbit, rabbit, rabbit, rabbit," it said. It wanted to see the teeth. Smile. Yes. It wanted to see Smile again. Smile was good. "Rabbit!" Why was the fun word not working, any more? It was confused.  
  Another big moving thing with hands and face came in with things on... Tray. Yes. Set Tray on... table. Yes. The other thing was not as big as Creator. Shorter. Yes. And more interestingly-shaped. Curvy. Yes. It went out and in and out. Not up-and-down.  
  "Rabbit," it said.  
  Not-Creator jumped and took a... step. Yes. A step... away. Yes. "What on Earth?"  
  "My latest advancement in exactly the wrong direction. Fed its brain with best possible lexicon, and all it will say is 'rabbit'..."  
  "Rabbit!"  
  "This is Miss Iris," said Creator, pointing to the new big thing. "Say 'Miss Iris'."  
  "Rabbit," it said.  
  Creator made a really funny noise. So funny that it forgot about 'rabbit' and made the Laugh noise.  
  "Time for lunch, sir."  
  "But I need to test its object recognition capabilities."  
  "*You* need to sit and eat. No mechanical talking heads until you eat your salad," said the MissIris.  
  This was *good* fun! It laughed louder.  
  "And as for *you*, Mister Rabbit," the MissIris pointed to it. "All you say is all you are!"  
  Wow. It was MisterRabbit. It had... a name. Yes. "Awesome," it moved its face. Tried to smile.  
  The MissIris smiled back. Turned to face Creator. Creator was making an open face. There were teeth, but no smile.  
  "At least I got it to stop saying 'rabbit'."  
  Creator put some of the weird stuff from the tray into his mouth. "Miss Iris... I never knew you could work miracles."  
  "Colonel Walter, sir... neither did I."  
*  
  There was slab, now. Shoulders and arms of its own. Chest and boiler. And Creator was now and forever 'Pappy', which was as much fun to say and hear as 'Rabbit'. It could turn its head, now. Look around. See what Pappy was doing.  
  Pappy had a ball. Not a pretty ball. A single hue, all over.  
  "Orange," said Pappy.  
  "Orange," Rabbit repeated.  
  "Good. Good. One flaw licked. Now." Pappy moved Rabbit's arms. Wrapped a copper hand around Orange. "Hold. Orange."  
  Rabbit made the fingers move. Tightened the curl of the fingers in its hand. Kept tightening as stuff came out and ran down its arm.  
  "Whoops." Pappy grabbed a loose cloth. Started moving it up and down where the stuff went. "That's a mess. Lucky I didn't make you hold my hand."  
  "Mess," repeated Rabbit. Mess happened, and rag went on mess and did the jiggly... dance. Yes. Did the dance all over the mess and made mess go away. This was... procedure. Yes. It watched Pappy as he took out the not-ball-any-more mess-orange and wiped all over its hand with the rag. "Rag-dance for mess."  
  This made Pappy laugh and race for his clipboard. "Subject... invented new term from... known... words. 'Rag-dance' for 'clean'. Amazing. Amazing."  
  Rabbit smiled. It liked being amazing. "What next?"  
  "Let's try something a little more... solid." Another, shinier ball. "This is steel."  
  "Steel."  
  It did not make mess. It kind-of made its hand... hurt. Things inside its new arm whined and made stained air.  
  "Stop. Stop! You're damaging your servos."  
  The steel ball dropped and made a crunching noise. Something else felt... wrong inside.  
  "Oh no. All right. Hold still. Let's fix this wreckage."  
  It felt so funny when Pappy fixed things. Not hurt. Not quite happy. But very... good. Rabbit kept wanting to think it felt of Hug, but it had never experienced Hug. It just had the idea of Hug hovering in the back of its mind.  
  Pappy's head leaned close. Rabbit did not want to make Mess out of Pappy. That felt bad. But Rabbit also wanted to touch Pappy. And didn't know why. Rabbit didn't feel.  
  But Rabbit did lay its hand over Pappy's idle hand. Just the weight of its arm. No pressing. No holding.  
  The feeling of the idea of Hug came back.  
  Good news. Rabbit no longer had to damage itself to get Pappy to touch it. It could touch Pappy, too.  
*  
  "Good morning, Rabbit."  
  Rabbit checked the window. The angle of the light meant 'morning'. And any time was good with Pappy in the room. "Yes." The assembly of new... legs. Yes. New legs lay nearby. Freshly-done and ready to go.  
  Shiny and fancy and looking like fun.  
  Pappy was making Rabbit more and more like Pappy.  
  This felt of Hug. Hug was a good feel. It made happy.  
  "The customary response to 'good morning' is 'good morning'."  
  Rabbit had to frown. "When does stop?"  
  "Amazing," Pappy whispered. Scribbled on some papers. Muttered to himself in a happy way.  
  This was Hug, too.  
  "We each get one 'good morning' for each person, Rabbit. Otherwise, that would be all we'd ever say. Understand?"  
  "Yes, Pappy."  
  Miss Iris came in with a rattling tray. "You forgot your breakfast, again."  
  "Really? I have to eat on the brink of a scientific breakthrough?"  
  Miss Iris folded her arms. "Must I hide your tools?"  
  "Women!" Pappy cried to the flat surface above and, on the way around the slab, bumped a lever that made the slab move.  
  Rabbit tipped up. It could see more.  
  It could see what was on Pappy's bench.  
  This did not fell of Hug. This felt... bad. Yes. This felt... sad. Yes. This felt... scared.  
  Very scared.  
  Rabbit's photoreceptors began to over-lubricate. The bad/sad/scared kept building up inside and Rabbit knew of no other way to let it out. It started its emergency siren.  
  Pappy, mouth full of eggs, garbled out, "Whaff vhe--?"  
  "Use your words," called Miss Iris. "What's the matter?"  
  Rabbit pointed, silencing the siren so it could say, "Spare! Spare... Rabbit! Spare Rabbit!"  
  Pappy shook his head and tried to stand. Miss Iris pointed an I-say-so finger at Pappy and made him sit back down.  
  Miss Iris got a rag and he[1] started mopping oil from Rabbit's face. The feeling of Hug began to fight away the feeling of bad/sad/scared. "There, now. Hush. Hush now, dear."  
  "Not deer. I Rabbit."  
  "Hush, now, sweetheart. There, there." Pats on its chassis. Nice. "That's not a spare you, sweetie. That's... your brother."  
  "Bro... ther..."  
  "You're family."  
  "It. Mine?"  
  Gulp. "Miss Iris, you're confusing it. Automatons don't have gender. Or familial relationships."  
  "Then why does he call you 'Pappy'?"  
  "One of the braver maids told it to, and I quote, 'mind your Pappy, thing', and I haven't been able to get it to stop." Pappy took a swig of his oil[2]. "Any assistance on your part is greatly appreciated."  
  "I just got the poor dear calmed down!"  
  "I no deer, I Rabbit," it said. These big things got confused real easy.  
  "You want me," said Miss Iris, "to tell a brand new life that the man who made it is not going to be its father?"  
  "I... well... Er..." Pappy looked down at his plate and poked the contents. "Uh..." he looked back towards the door. "You see..." Now up at the women[3]. "Um..." Down again at his hands. "When you put it that way. No, Miss Iris."  
  Miss Iris nodded his head in a satisfied manner. "Just so. Now finish your sauerkraut."  
  Sigh. "Yes, Miss Iris."  
  Miss Iris put a polish onto Rabbit's face with the rag. "I swear, I'll turn around twice and be mother to this whole batty household..."  
  Mother...  
  YES!  
  Rabbit knew of Mother. Mother was such *Hug*! Mother was why the soft words and cleanings worked to put away the bad/sad/scared so fast. Rabbit smiled for him and cooed, "Ma..." and put its hand on his. "Ma."  
  Pappy laughed around his sauerkraut. "Miss Iris, you really should watch what you say around my automaton. Rabbit learns quick."  
*  
  "There we are. New legs. Wriggle your right foot."  
  Rabbit did so.  
  "Now your left."  
  And again.  
  "How do they feel?" asked Pappy.  
  This was new. "Feels hug," said Rabbit.  
  "You mean it feels good," corrected Pappy. "I'm going to tip you up again, and release the straps. Try to hold yourself up."  
  "Yes, Pappy."  
  The new motors and servos shook a little. Rabbit steadied itself on the slab.  
  "That's right," said Pappy. "Use the stablisers. That's what they're there for. Use that gyroscope, lad!"  
  "Not lad. I Rabbit."  
  Pappy shook his head and sighed. "Try to move from the slab to a bench? You should be able to reach."  
  Move?  
  Oh yes. Like Pappy did. And he did it so easily.  
  This did not feel so hug, any more. Things inside whined and stained air started coming out of Rabbit a lot. It could not hold Pappy. Not without hurting Pappy. It was still trying to work out when to stop its servos from holding. Squeezing.  
  Metal stuff lasted better when Rabbit did hold on them.  
  "Afraid," managed Rabbit. Sirens didn't work unless the... people. Yes. Unless the people were far away. Words were better with close people.  
  "Watch me, Rabbit," Pappy swept up his long-white-outside to show two black legs. He showed a short, stable-looking walk. "Lean on one. Lift the other. Move the other. Change where you put your weight. Lift one. Move one. Change weight. See? You do."  
  Rabbit never let go of the slab, but did manage a slow shuffle towards the up end. Which tilted down and made Rabbit peep in alarm.  
  "Sorry, I need to lock that. One moment."  
  Pappy was fast. Pappy made it look so *easy*. With big gaps between one and other. And swingy sweeps of his arms. It looked scared. Scary. Yes.  
  "There. All still. Come on, now." Pappy put himself at a corner closer to the bench, but not in reach of Rabbit. "Come to Pappy."  
  There was a lot of leaning. And too many shuffle-steps so not like Pappy's. And then Pappy was showing Rabbit how to reach across to the bench. Touching. Holding Rabbit's hand on the top, so Rabbit couldn't grip Pappy and make hurt.  
  And it was getting so much less scary. Less hard. It was getting... easier. Yes.  
  By the time Rabbit had fallen down three times, and assisted back up again by the hook on the chain on the pulley that Pappy used... Rabbit was almost sure it had the essentials coded.  
  Ma came in with her tray of Pappy-things. This one would be 'lunch'. Yes. The clocks counted in the distance. Rabbit chimed back. The clocks never wanted to talk.  
  "I see you've invented a toddler," said Miss Iris.  
  "Hi, Ma."  
  "It'll get the hang of bipedal motion, soon enough." Pappy clapped his hands and lifted the shiny silver lid. "Ah! Sandwiches. How did you know I was in a hurry, today?"  
  "You're in a hurry every day," she smiled.  
  Rabbit liked that smile. It filled the air with Hug. "What is 'hang of'?" it asked.  
  "I mean you're getting better at... a skill," said Pappy.  
  "Try putting your shoulders above your hips a little more," coached Ma. He reached out to help.  
  Rabbit did its best to move according to his pushing. It knew resisting might hurt Ma.  
  Pappy, watching with a really funny face, had some kind of malfunction and had to sit down. "Miss Iris... you really *must* remember that these machines are *heavy*. One wrong move and you could have been *squashed*."  
  "I no squash him, Pappy," Rabbit objected. "I no fall."  
  Ma raised an eyebrow at Pappy. "Him?"  
  "I -uh- I gave him the words, I swear. He just... doesn't use them."  
  "Did you teach him?"  
  "Uh..."  
  Ma sighed. "Rabbit. Have you noticed that Colonel Walter and I are... different?"  
  Rabbit nodded. "Miss Iris got pokey-outie bits," it gestured at its own chest and came to the shocked realisation that standing on its own was possible. Ma was almost too much Hug to be possible.  
  "Yes. Ahem. Well. That's because Colonel Walter is a man and I am a woman. Women like me--"  
  "Error," Rabbit frowned. "Pappy say that women," and pointed up.  
  Pappy moaned and rubbed his face. "That was bad input, Rabbit."  
  "Sometimes people cry out to things above them about the things that frustrate them," said Ma.  
  Oh! It had a way to let it out, now. This was *HUG*! Rabbit steadied itself on the bench and faced the top of the room. "Walking!"  
  This earned it laughter from Pappy and Ma. Rabbit re-straightened itself and laughed with them.  
  "Yes, very good," said Ma. "Back to the topic. Women like me get different pronouns to men like Colonel Walter. For instance, if I were to talk about your Pappy, I would say, 'he is at his desk' or 'he is sitting down'."  
  "He is still feeling a little faint," said Pappy.  
  "Deep breaths, sir," said Ma, and patted his shoulder.  
  "And if I were to talk of Miss Iris," said Pappy, "I would say, 'she is a remarkable woman' or, 'she is tending to her master'. Do you understand?"  
  "He," Rabbit pointed to Pappy. "She," and to Ma. Then, to itself. "I... 'he'?"  
  "For the sake of argument, yes. You are made in my image, after all."  
  Rabbit smiled. He liked learning these things. And there was so much to learn. He tried a few shuffling steps away from the bench. Laughed to know that he had walking licked.  
  "Well done," said Pappy. "When you're feeling confident with your walking, you can come and give me a hand with your brother."  
  "That's a lot of steel," said Ma. "Will you be all right, sir?"  
  "I have the pulley and I have Rabbit. We should be just fine."  
  Rabbit, having shuffled over to Pappy, disconnected his least useful hand with a vigorous tug and offered it to Pappy.  
  "Oh dear!" Ma put her hand over her mouth.  
  Pappy looked at the hand, then Rabbit's arm, then screwed up his face. "I simply *must* teach you both about metaphorical speech... Miss Iris, if you would be so kind as to pass the half-inch wrench?"  
  Ma snatched it off Pappy's tool table. "Rabbit... your hand works so much better when it's firmly attached, dear."  
  "I no deer, I Rabbit," said Rabbit. He watched Pappy open up his arm and take the plating off his hand and re-connect things as Ma passed little bits and tools.  
  "Dear is an affectionate name. It means you're rather dear to me."  
  There was a picture-book in reach. One of many that Pappy used to test Rabbit's vocabulary. There were many pictures of things Rabbit had never seen, but there were also concepts. This one had 'deer', the long-legged brown animal with funny pointy bits.  
  "Deer to...?"  
  "Wrong dear." Ma went flipping through the books until she found one with two smaller humans... children. Yes. Children hugging and smiling. "This dear. It means... I want to keep you safe and do the things that make you happy."  
  "Hug," said Rabbit. He wanted Hug. He wanted Pappy and Ma to have Hug, too.  
  "Yes, that's a hug," said Ma.  
  "Want hug," Rabbit couldn't stop the sad coming out in his voice.  
  Ma turned to Pappy. "Colonel Walter, just how human did you make this poor creature?"  
  "I programmed Rabbit with synthetic emotions, just as I have with this other fellow." Pappy's current tool tapped a long, steel limb. "They only think they love, fear, or feel lonely."  
  Rabbit laid his working hand on Pappy's shoulder, for the feel of Hug.  
  "I'm not saying it's without its own little snags, but it's a necessity for their ultimate purpose."  
  "Being musicians," said Ma. She looked over at a picture on one of the shelves. A face Rabbit had yet to see in person. "Your Delilah is a lucky woman."  
  "Not my Delilah, yet. Still her own." Pappy sighed and tightened some bolts. "But this should most definitely gain some merit in her eyes."  
  "Yes, sir," Ma looked very sad and crept away.  
  Rabbit didn't understand. Didn't know how to ask. And he had his hand back and working because Pappy was the most wonderful person ever.  
  "Now. Do you want to help me build your brother?"  
  "Yayayayayayayayayayah!" Rabbit jiggled in place, using his knees to raise and lower himself.  
  Pappy did something with his hands. It made a fun noise. It made... clap. Yes.  
  Rabbit tried to copy it slowly. Then faster. His hands went... clank. Yes. Not clap.  
  Pappy still said, "Very good," anyway. "Now. Let's get all these pieces onto the slab. In the right places, please."  
  Rabbit started with the legs because having legs was Hug. Then the chest because Pappy had the hips already and the head was already there. He could see new brother's hands were more complex than his own. His new brother was going to be Hug. The Huggest.  
  Rabbit watched as Pappy strapped the pieces down and began working on the neck and chest.  
  "We'll get the torso put together before we activate him," said Pappy. "Make sure everything's shipshape."  
  "Is Rabbit shape, Pappy."  
  "...should have programmed you with metaphors," Pappy muttered. "This automaton, like you, is human-shaped. Now, by 'shipshape' I mean that he's functioning as he should. That way we don't have any... troubling mistakes."  
  Rabbit remembered. His arm wasn't doing what he told it to do and made Pappy leak. The white bandage on Pappy's hand made Rabbit sad. Even when Pappy said it was all right. He never wanted to hurt Pappy.  
  He... loved. Yes. He loved Pappy.  
  Rabbit decided he would get between new brother and Pappy if it looked like new brother was being dangerous. Rabbit was made of tougher stuff than Pappy was.  
  But so far, new brother was very still. He only moved when Pappy made bits move.  
  Rabbit passed tools and listened as Pappy muttered to himself. Waiting for the instant that this new automaton would blink and move on its own. New brother!  
  "Does brother have name?" said Rabbit.  
  "Not yet," Pappy connected some tubes. "I expect he'll earn one in time. For the moment, he's just Zero Zero Two. Like you were Zero Zero One, before Miss Iris... well. You were there for that bit."  
  Rabbit laughed. "Fun. Name is Hug."  
  "It's good to have a name," Pappy agreed. "This should be it..." Pappy hooked up more tubes and moved away from the slab to pull a lever.  
  Rabbit could feel... the other. It was like the ghost of the slab and weight going in two different ways at once. His gyroscope said he was standing, but the ghost-feel said he was lying down. Confused, putting out too much stained air, Rabbit pulled the other lever that tilted the slab, and brother, more upright.  
  Yes. This was better.  
  The blue window in new brother's chest glowed just like Rabbit's.  
  "Brother?" Rabbit prompted.  
  "Give him a minute to warm up," said Pappy. "That water in his boiler has to start boiling before we can expect anything."  
  Rabbit, eager for any sign of life, put his head up against his new brother's chest. He didn't remember this bit. The ghost-feel of it was... odd. Warm and feeling not-good but getting better.  
  Rabbit only pulled away because of the ghost-feel of his head against the other's chest.  
  The lax head moved. Straightened up from its flop. Steel eyelids flickered. The blue glow spread through the chest, up the neck, and illuminated the eyes.  
  Which fluttered open.  
  "Hello brother," said Rabbit. "I Rabbit."  
  New brother blinked. Opened his mouth to speak. Stained air and oil came out of his mouth instead of sound.  
  "...awk...?"  
  This was mess! Rabbit knew what to do. He grabbed the nearest rag and wiped up the mess. "I clean new brother! Rabbit good brother!"  
  Pappy came up to look. "Let me see, Rabbit."  
  The clocks chimed the hour. Rabbit sang to them as Pappy looked at new brother with his looking and listening tools.  
  New brother sang, too!  
  Rabbit clapped. "[This me! Rabbit! Big brother. You sing?]" he chirped.  
  "[Self... sing,]" new brother felt very scared. Rabbit could feel it.  
  "[You no feel bad,]" said Rabbit. "[You watch. Pappy fix.]"  
  "[Pappy?]"  
  Rabbit patted Pappy. Very lightly. "[This Pappy. Pappy make me. Pappy make you. I help!]"  
  Pappy emerged from the insides of new brother's chest. "Are you... talking to each other?"  
  New brother made more stained air. "Self... apologise. Self not know is wrong."  
  "Not wrong. Wonderful! This is astonishing! Instant manifestation of independent language... it's nearly miraculous." Pappy danced across the room for some paper and pencils. "Rabbit - when you made noises to the clocks..."  
  "I try talk to them," said Rabbit. "They no talk back."  
  "And Zero Zero Two...?"  
  New brother blinked in confusion.  
  "[That's you,]" supplied Rabbit.  
  "Self... hear sound. Self hear brother... Rabbit. Self... follow. Self know sound is for speaking. Is self in error?"  
  "Not at all. Not at all!" Pappy was smiling. "You used your knowledge of music to create a language! Amazing! Astounding..."  
  "[Pappy do 'smile',]" chirped Rabbit. "[Smile is good. Is feel Hug.]"  
  "[What is hug?]"  
  Oh... OH! This could be real hug! "Pappy? Rabbit show 'hug' for brother?"  
  "Yes, you shouldn't harm him at all."  
  Glee! Rabbit almost fell on his brother. Wrapping eager arms around his steel torso and holding until the servos started to whine. It felt even better than he ever imagined! "This hug. This best!"  
  "Brother no hurt?"  
  "No hurt. Is good feel. You feel?"  
  New brother managed a smile. "Self... feel... good."  
  
[1] Rabbit doesn't know many gendered pronouns at this point  
[2] Actually coffee  
[3] Ceiling  
  
To be continued!  
  



End file.
